OER Quality and Adaptation in K-12: Comparing Teacher Evaluations of Copyright-Restricted, Open, and Open/Adapted Textbooks

Authors

  • Royce Kimmons Brigham Young University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v16i5.2341

Keywords:

open education, OER, K-12, open textbooks, professional development, OER quality, quality assurance

Abstract

Conducted in conjunction with an institute on open textbook adaptation, this study compares textbook evaluations from practicing K-12 classroom teachers (n = 30) on three different types of textbooks utilized in their contexts: copyright-restricted, open, and open/adapted. Copyright-restricted textbooks consisted of those textbooks already in use by the teachers in their classrooms prior to the institute, open textbooks included alternatives from CK-12 and OpenStax, and open/adapted consisted of open textbooks that the teachers devoted time to adapting to their individual needs. Results indicate that open/adapted textbooks were evaluated as having the highest quality, and that open textbooks were of higher quality than copyright-restricted textbooks. Though some factors of quality might be influenced by cost differences (e.g., timeliness and the ability to adopt updated textbooks), results reveal that open and open/adapted textbooks may do a better job of meeting the needs of K-12 teachers in a variety of ways that may not be captured through traditional approaches to quality assurance. This study marks an early step in exploring the quality of K-12 open educational resources (OER) and the use of practicing teachers as authentic evaluators of textbooks for their local contexts.

Author Biography

Royce Kimmons, Brigham Young University

Dr. Royce Kimmons is an Assistant Professor of Instructional Psychology and Technology in the David O. McKay School of Education at Brigham Young University. He has formerly held a faculty position at the University of Idaho and a postdoctoral position at The University of Texas at Austin. His research interests focus on technology integration for learning and participation in online learning communities.  More information about his work may be found at http://royce.kimmons.me

Published

2015-09-29

How to Cite

Kimmons, R. (2015). OER Quality and Adaptation in K-12: Comparing Teacher Evaluations of Copyright-Restricted, Open, and Open/Adapted Textbooks. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 16(5). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v16i5.2341